From Hucksters to Holy Men
Reimagining the Mountain Ascetic in Late Medieval Japan
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22024912 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Caleb Carter (0000-0003-2822-2716, Kyushu University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 2-3 |
| Pages | 127-151 |
| Publication date | 2023-12-20 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Religion in Japan (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2211-8349 • E-ISSN: 2211-8330 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/22118349-01202007 |
| OpenAlex | W4390991699 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
Men who roamed Japan’s mountains, conducting austerities for the benefit of themselves and others, have been historically viewed along an opposing set of extremes, ranging from wonderworkers, immortals, and other Buddhist ideal types to charlatans, social deviants, and subhumans. The ascetic’s ritual space—the mountains—functioned as a geographical other that could either arouse Buddhist awakening or strange, demonic forces. Against this extreme ambivalence toward mountains and mountain ascetics, organized religion offered a means to transcend the margins and find a secure place within society. After examining opposing depictions of medieval ascetics, this article explores an attempt within Shugendō to thoroughly remake their image. While the institutionalization of Shugendō has often been equated with spiritual decline, actors within Shugendō in fact sought to transform the body of the ascetic from an uncanny spectacle into a manifestation of the divine, thereby constructing a new identity for its practitioners
Aesthetics · Ambivalence · Archaeology · Art · Asceticism · Buddhism · Epistemology · Exorcism · Literature · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Spectacle · Uncanny · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
| Highly cited | No |
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